Castaner appeals 42- to 75-year sentence for murder of ex-girlfriend

CASPER, Wyo. — The 16-year-old Casper teen tried as an adult for the murder of his ex-girlfriend is appealing the 42- to 75-year sentence imposed this week to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Eavan Castaner, who will turn 17 this May, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder six months after the murder of Lene’a Brown, who was 17 years old.  

Seventh Judicial District Judge Dan Forgey imposed the sentence on Tuesday, April 8.

The state had asked for 44–77 years in prison.

Castaner’s attorney, Ryan Semerad, called that recommendation “purely punitive” in a press release on Tuesday. He said the ultimate sentence is contrary to Wyoming’s Constitution, specifically a 2013 amendment that says juvenile offenders “shall be eligible for parole after commutation of his sentence to a term of years or after having served twenty-five (25) years of incarceration,” except under circumstances not relevant to Castaner’s case. 

The 42 years Castaner was ordered to serve before becoming eligible for parole exceeded the limits of the law by 17 years, Semerad wrote.

“Our community needs a reckoning over kids, crime, and safety,” Semerad wrote. “Imposing unconstitutional and illegal sentences sends exactly the wrong message at this precarious time.”

Sentencing memos between Semerad and Seventh Judicial District Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson ran back and forth ahead of Tuesday’s sentencing.

Nelson argued that Wyoming Supreme Court case law from 2014 established that a juvenile offender’s sentence need only be structured so that they are eligible for parole by the time they are 61 in order to avoid “a functional life sentence” which would be outside the scope of a second-degree murder sentence for a juvenile.

At sentencing, Forgey said there was lack of direction from the Wyoming Supreme Court case law for juvenile sentences on second-degree murder specifically. The case law referenced in the arguments concerned convictions for first-degree murder.